Review: During lockdown, when strutting your stuff on the dancefloor remained a pipe dream, many producers naturally gravitated towards more downtempo sounds during their studio sessions. Jamie Odell AKA Jimpster, who of course first rose to prominence in the late '90s as a producer of laid-back beats and jazzy instrumentals, was one of those producers. The resultant LP, Birdhouse - his seventh in total - is naturally brilliant, with Odell showcasing the quality of his musicianship (and song writing skills) on a range of warming, comforting and undeniably luscious tracks that variously join the dots between trip-hop, neo soul, nu-jazz, ambient and blunted beats. Throw in some superb guest vocals (from both singers and rappers) and you have a near perfect collection of sofa-ready sounds.
Review: Freerange co-founder Jamie 'Jimpster' Odell recently reached a significant musical milestone, namely the passing of 25 years since the release of his first record. To mark the occasions, he's been releasing a series of retrospective compilations. This is the third and, like its predecessors, is packed to the rafters with career highlights. For the most part the set focuses on the more downtempo end of Odell's output, flitting between evocative nu-jazz ('Bad Hair Blues', the ultra-dreamy lusciousness of 'Maiden Voyage'), squelchy electronica ('Makin' Weird'), jazz-funk-fired broken beat ('Standing Wave'), bruk/hip-house fusion (Capitol A collaboration 'Left & Right') and slow-motion soundscapes ('Fluorescent Blue'), with only occasional forays into deep house. In a word: superb!
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